Painting Potter
by acciolove-x
Summary: Remus and James have to learn to paint in Muggle Studies class. All goes according to plan, until a certain redhead shows up... T because I'm paranoid. Oneshot.


_Just a little oneshot I came up with in art. Nothing amazing, I know, but I thought it was cute. Reviews make me smile. Don't review, and I'll cover you in paint. Virtually, anyway. _

**Painting Potter**

"So Moony, what do you think old Tuckworth's got in store for us today?" James asked with a grin.

"I have no idea, but if it involves a blender then we may have a problem," Remus smirked back. Both students took a moment to reminisce on their last Muggle Studies lesson, which had taken a particularly disastrous for the worse when Alice had somehow managed to get her hair caught in an electric whisk. The boys caught each other's eyes and laughed. To both of them, especially James, Muggle Studies was a bit of a joke. Every time their teacher decided to do something practical, the entire lesson went to pot. And, of course, this had everything and nothing to do with the fact that two Marauders were in the room.

"OK, enough please…" Professor Tuckworth said calmly, as he strode down the corridor before opening the door to his classroom. The gentle hum of chatter and laughter ceased at once. "Very good. Now, if you will all, yes _all_, Mr Potter, put your wands into this box as you walk into the room and take your places, we can get started quickly. I have something good planned for today," the teacher said cheerfully. James and Remus glanced at each other. In this class, 'something good' was a very ominous sign.

One by one, the young witches and wizards dropped their wands into the decorative blue box and filed into the room. James took his usual space beside Remus.

"Right, now as you are all going to be taking this exam at NEWT level, it is important that you understand all aspects of Muggle life, from practical things such as," Tuckworth swallowed nervously, "cooking, to recreational things, such as the arts. As wizards, we are very fortunate in the way that was can create portraits, posters and banners with any design we like, using only one flick of a wand. Muggles aren't so lucky. They have to create these items with a very long and tedious task known as 'painting'," the professor rambled. During his little speech, the rest of the class were fidgeting and passing notes, eagerly awaiting the moment when they would be allowed to do whatever they wished.

Tuckworth lifted a white sheet from the desk. Below the sheet were small groups of jars in trays, a stack of white paper and a selection of paintbrushes. Professor Tuckworth was aware of the fact that the students were raring to get started, so hastened to explain the differences between paper and parchment, and the correct method of holding a paintbrush.

"Now if everybody would please make an orderly line, I will –"But the tall, thin teacher never got to finish his sentence. The entire class appeared to have risen as one, and were charging towards the teacher's desk to grab what they needed. James was one of these people. After pushing through the tangle of teenagers, he finally managed to return at his desk at the back of the room, laden with about half of the stack of paper, a tray, and two very thick paintbrushes.

"Right Moony, so what do we do with this stuff again?" he asked, staring down at the tray. It contained a jar of water, and twelve jars of different coloured paints.

"This," said Remus simply, and very carefully coated the tip of the brush in black paint. James watched as his friend created a perfect square on the page.

"You know Moony, you really are too perfect for your own good," James said with mock disbelief. "I think we could have some fun with this…"

"Prongs, not to squash your inner Marauder or anything, but what are you going to do when Lily finds out that you've painted our teacher green?"

"Actually, I was thinking orange, but…hey, how did you know that that's what I was going to do?"

"Aside from the fact that your staring at him like you're trying to guess his weight, he's a teacher, and, well, he's a teacher? Nothing. But I really don't think you should, not now that you're Head Boy. It would be hard to miss a paintbrush floating in mid-air anyway, and it wouldn't take long for everyone to notice that you're missing."

James considered this for a moment, before saying, "I suppose it wasn't one of my better ideas. The last thing I need if for Lily to hate me again. She's only just started being nice to me."

"That's what you took from that?"

"Yes, what did you expect? I mean, have you seen the way her eyes sparkle? It's beautiful, even when she's mad. And her hair contrasts her skin perfectly, and it's so sweet when she blushes. And she's just so…petite! It's adorable!"

Remus heaved a slight sigh of relief when Professor Tuckworth passed their table, causing James to stop his constant flow of the many charms of Lily Evans.

"Mr Potter, is there any particular reason why you haven't started yet? We are ten minutes into the lesson!"

"I'm sorry sir, but I heard that Muggles can't paint properly until they are inspired, and since I am at this moment the definition of uninspired, I can't do any work," James quipped easily, causing Tuckworth to chuckle slightly, his shoulder-length hair bouncing off his face.

"Just get some work done, Potter."

"Yes sir."

After the professor had moved on to inspect another pair's work, James decided that it might be a good idea to get some work done after all. He took his paintbrush and thrust it into the water with a little too much force, causing it to splash everywhere, then dunked it straight into the red paint. When the brush emerged from the jar, it was covered in paint until half way up the handle. He pressed it in a great sweeping motion across the paper, lifting it with a flourish, and splattering red spots over his friend's pattern of neat shapes.

"Whoops! Sorry Moony!" he said, in a manner that said he was not sorry at all.

In retaliation, Remus took his paintbrush and flicked paint onto the wavy red line that was on James' paper.

"Moony! Your ruined my picture!" James shrieked, forcing his brush more forcefully into a jar of purple paint and holding it back menacingly.

"You wouldn't dare…" Moony muttered dangerously, then looked away, distracted.

"Oh wouldn't I?"

"Not when Evans is behind you, you wouldn't."

"What? Where?" James jumped and whipped his body round so fast that he successfully succeeded is splattering Remus' face with purple freckles, along with a small section of wall.

"I was KIDDING. Not that it worked, considering the fact that you got me covered in paint anyway…"

"Alright, you're going to pay for that, Moony!" James yelled, trying to paint a stripe across Remus' forehead.

"And WHAT is going on here?" Tuckworth demanded, suddenly appearing behind Remus and James.

"He wrecked my picture!" they yelled simultaneously, before looking at each other and stifling the urge to laugh.

"Five points from Gryffindor."

"But sir - "

"Each."

James sniffed in defeat as the professor walked away, and pretended to ignore Remus' cough, that sounded suspiciously like 'idiot'.

For the next twenty-five minutes, the boys worked much more sensibly, and by the time that Tuckworth had asked them to pack up, both were rather good at it.

"OK folks, I want you to bring the trays over to the sink here…" with a wave of his wand, a sink materialised, "and put your paintings on my desk. Then we will begin the written work. Not as exiting, I know, but it has to be done," Tuckworth informed.

Remus took the stack of paper and returned it to the professor's desk along with his and James' pictures, while James was left to take back the tray.

He ducked, dodged and dived through the chaotic room towards the sink. As he tried to navigate his way towards the sink that the front of the room, he didn't notice the person he bumped into before it was too late.

"Lily! Oh god, I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me!" he yelped in horror. Lily, who had been in the room to deliver a message to Professor Tuckworth and had been cornered by Alice, was now sporting a moustache and beard of deep blue paint, and had streaks of yellow all down her school robes. Her eyes had shut with the sudden collision, and her features were screwed up in distaste. After about three seconds, she opened her eyes slowly to find that the whole room was staring at her. She was silent.

"Lily?" James asked tentatively.

Without any change in her facial expression, she reached forward to the tray, scooped up a handful each of silver and green paint, and wiped it unceremoniously on James' face. The whole room was silent, and even Tuckworth was too interested to put a stop to it. James used his sleeve to wipe the paint from his eyes and – very slowly – turned to put the try down on the table behind him. While his back was turned, he coated his hands in paint and turned to face Lily again, with a raised eyebrow and a wicked grin. Even though she was about to be used as a canvas, a part of Lily's mind couldn't help but register how nice James would look with green eyes.

James lifted his hands threateningly, and smeared black paint across the bridge of her nose.

Suddenly, Lily did something that nobody had expected – she smiled.

"Oh, you are _on _Potter!" she shrieked, grabbing a pot of paint from the nearest table and throwing the contents at her opponent.

"Children…" Tuckworth muttered feebly, but nobody listened.

James ran towards Lily – who tried and failed to hide behind a table – and slid his gooey hands over any part of her that he could reach, laughing like he'd never been happier. He grabbed her by the shoulders and both of them ended up on the floor in a space between two tables, wrestling and generally making each other as filthy as possible. The whole class was laughing now, and Alice was sending a constant supply of new paint pots down to Lily, while Remus simply slapped his own forehead and tried to look like he wasn't friends with either of the maniacs rolling around on the floor. Quite frankly, all hell had broken loose, and it was not long before there wasn't a single clean person left in the room. Lily had paint all over her face, matted in her hair and sticking to her robes, and was rolling up James' sleeves to coat his arms, when a torrent of water came hurling from above. Lily struggled beneath James' grasp to find the source of it, and saw Frank drenching his girlfriend in water on a nearby table, while Remus had finally gotten involved and was splashing paint over the professor from behind a chair, while Tuckworth searched fruitlessly for the source of the attack.

Lily finally managed to pull herself to her feet, only to be slammed into a bookshelf by James as he pulled her back down again. Three bottles of sticky white substance hit the ground next to her, and without thinking James pulled the tops off and began squeezing the bottle as hard as he could, managing to get it all over Lily. Not noticing that a new liquid had been added to the battle, Lily pulled James closer to her and ran her hands through his hair, effectively wiping all of the goo off them.

"You know, it feels incredibly good when you do that, Lils," James said cheekily, earning him a playful punch in the arm and more paint in his hair.

The entire situation was beyond the point of salvage. Most people were covered in paint and laughing so hard that it seemed as though they may burst. Lily and James gave up on their fight, and lay in the position they were in, clutching their sides and giggling so much it hurt. Above all of the uproar, nobody noticed that Tuckworth was crying through desperation, and nobody saw him leave the room, or return.

After returning to the classroom, nobody even noticed that Tuckworth wasn't the only member of authority in the room.

"Silence!" a familiar voice bellowed, and the class ended the war and attempted to control their giggles at once.

The imperial figure of Albus Dumbledore was at the front of the classroom. "I am to believe that Mr Potter and Miss Evans – our very own Head Boy and Girl, no less, have started this raucous. Would that be correct?" The room was almost silent; James and Lily were well-like, and nobody wanted to get them into trouble. "I thought so. Everybody else, you may go to Professor McGonagall if you are incapable of cleaning yourself up, and if you can manage you may go. The lesson ended five minutes ago."

Everybody except James and Lily – including Tuckworth – left the room, much more subdued, though seemingly shocked that they weren't in any sort of trouble.

Dumbledore strode over to the corner of the room were James and Lily still lay, entangled on the floor.

"Get up, please."

James attempted to get up of the floor, but he couldn't.

"Is there a problem, Mr Potter?" Dumbledore asked serenely, and his lips twitched as he spoke.

"I…errrmm…can't seem to…"

"Get up?" Lily finished.

"Sounds about right, yeah. I seem to be…ermmm…"

"Stuck to me?"

"Yes."

Lily caught her headmaster's eye, and smiled confusedly when he winked.

"You may want to check what was in those white bottles, Miss Evans."

Lily groped around for one of the sticky white bottles, and gasped when she read the label.

"Super glue," she murmured.

"What?"

"Super glue. It's like…like the Muggle equivalent of a permanent sticking charm…only easier to get rid of…"

"Wait – so we're like…stuck together?" James asked, his eyes wide.

"Mr Potter, you seem much more pleased than you should, but not more pleased than I expected," Dumbledore smiled, and James grinned sheepishly.

"So, Professor, is there a way you can get us out of this? I mean, unstuck us?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"Well, I was going to take house points from you, since you decided to destroy the lesson, classroom, and on a much more grand scale Professor Tuckworth's confidence, but I think it is enough of a punishment for you to have to make your way to the hospital wing like this," Dumbledore gestured them both, "and she will mend your predicament once you arrive. But be warned; anymore incidents like this, and I may have to glue you together permanently." Dumbledore winked at James, then left the room, with one last glance over his shoulder.

James and Lily looked at each other apprehensively.

"So, I suppose we should probably try to stand up…" James said nervously, silently wondering how on earth he had gotten himself into this situation in the first place.

"Yeah…that might be a good idea. Ermm…"

But this was easier said than done. After a little discussion, both decided to just try it however they could. James took Lily's waist and rolled them both onto their sides, both laughing slightly. With much difficulty, they finally managed to get to their feet. Panting slightly, and clutching each other so that they wouldn't fall over again, they turned to face each other.

"Hard to believe that we're supposed to be the most responsible and mature people in the school, isn't it?" James laughed, and Lily giggled slightly. She was getting a little lightheaded at James' proximity. They were friends, and that's all, but Lily couldn't help but realise that there was something else there. That something else being that now she knew him properly, she could see the side of James that everybody else saw. The side that could be mature and caring and modest. She had fallen for him, and she didn't like it.

Her emotions must have shown on her face, because James frowned. "Everything OK? I'm sorry about all this, I didn't mean…I mean, it was never exactly my intention to have us joined at the hip…" he said softly, hoping that injecting some humour into the conversation would lighten the mood. "And I didn't start it on purpose, honest."

Lily smiled. "It's OK, don't worry about it, but you do realise that if this happens again we're going to end up losing our positions as Head Boy and Girl, don't you?"

"It won't happen again, don't worry," he said, with an air of mock seriousness.

"C'mon, let's try and walk…" Lily said wearily, already dreading the long walk down to the hospital wing.

"Right…"

They both took one step sideways, but Lily tripped over James' leg and they both ended up back on the floor, laughing. They pulled themselves back up to standing position.

"OK, it might work better if one of us walks backwards," James suggested, and Lily nodded. They turned round so that Lily was facing the door, and James had his back to it.

"Wait, maybe we should stand the other way round, I doubt you can see over my head, then we'll both end up falling down the stairs or something."

"Sounds logical when you put it that way, but I don't really like the idea of walking there backwards." Lily furrowed her brow in concern.

James smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

Lily still looked worried. "Hold on to me."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that," James smiled as he obliged, putting both arms around her waist.

"Don't get used to it," she warned.

They took an experimental step towards the door, and nobody fell, so they took a few more. Continuing at this very slow pace, they finally reached James' back, which was lying abandoned on the floor.

"Do you have the cloak?"

"Do I have the cloak? When do I _not _have the cloak?"

"Of course."

James managed to throw his bag onto his arm and pull out the cloak before placing his hand back on Lily's waist. They continued at a very slow pace until they reached the door, then stopped. It was closed.

"Lil?"

"That's my name. Well, technically it's not, but I know what you mean, if you know what I mean," Lily rambled in reply. James smiled at her reaction. Something between them had changed since the start of that year, and he knew it. Despite the accusations Lily used to be so fond of making, he wasn't stupid. He moved his head a little closer to Lily's, if that were possible, just to gauge her reaction. She tried to breathe normally, but her breath shook a little as she drew it in. the more she tried to act natural, the harder it got. She glanced up to meet his eyes for a moment, but she couldn't pull them away. Hazel eyes; deep eyes, full of mysteries that she wanted to uncover, full of desperate longing that she couldn't ignore. Her knees began to shake and a light sweat prickled on the back of her neck. She knew it was cliché, she knew it, but she was melting in his arms, if it wasn't for the glue that was holding them together she would have collapsed at his feet…

"Lily? Is it OK if…" he trailed off uncertainly. She could see the nervousness, the hesitation in his face. He was _asking_ her _permission_. She let herself tilt her head forward, watching until the last second as his soft lips opened slightly and moved closer and closer to hers…

"Yes," she whispered simply, and let her eyes flutter close to kiss him.

It was exactly how both of them wanted it to be. Short, but genuine and very sweet. They pulled away, trying and failing to hide their identical smiles.

"James?"

"Hmm?"

"You have a bit of paint on you…"

.o.O.o.

_Well, that was my first oneshot. I hope I got the kiss right, I've never written one before. And I'm serious when I say please, please tell me how to improve it! Thanks for reading if you made it this far!_


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